Three Steps To Starting A Family
by superkappa
Summary: AU, Elle wasn't killed by Sylar, but she was impregnated by him. She turns to the only person who's ever helped her before during this time of need, Claire.


Title: Three Steps To Starting a Family

Pairing: Elle/Claire

Rating: PG-13

Summary: AU after 3x11. After breaking ties with Sylar, Elle discovers she was pregnant and goes to the one person who she ever remembered trying to help her, Claire.

Author's note: I've never really written for this pairing before, so I'm a little nervous posting this. Actually, I've never really written femslash at all before, but the idea wouldn't leave me at all.

Step One: Forgiveness

Elle's life changed that night on the beach. Even though Sylar hadn't gone through with it, she had shocked him enough before he could but there was still a scar on her head and a grudge in her chest that wouldn't go away. When he left, she hadn't gone after him, hadn't even cried. She just blamed herself for being so stupid. Men didn't change. Her father didn't, and neither did he. They all just used her until she had nothing else to give. Her father, Bennet, Adam, Peter, Sylar, they had all used her in some way or another. That night she had decided she was done with them. All of them.

Which left her in a state of confusion several months later when she kept missing her period. She thought maybe it was a mishap, a mistake, a result from the second attempt on her life, but she had been wrong. She was pregnant.

And that's why she found herself on the doorstep of the Bennets' home, resisting breaking in like she had the last time she was here. This time though, she wasn't looking for Glasses, she was looking for the only person who had ever tried to help her, the person she had foolishly turned her back on.

_Claire._

She could only hope the girl could forgive her for you know, shooting her and everything. She took a deep breath before bringing a hand up to knock on the door. What did she have to be nervous about? She thought of the mantra her father always told her. _You're made of tougher stuff than this, Elle._

Soon enough, the door opened, but instead of the Cheerleader, it was her annoying brat brother. Lyle's eyes widened in surprise as he spotted her and he called out, "Mom, Claire, someone grab the water! The bitch is back again!"

Elle rolled her eyes, clenching her fists to her side, trying to resist the urge to just shock the brat. "I'm not here to cause any problems, so if you could not short circuit me that would be lovely. If I was here to cause trouble, I wouldn't have knocked on the door."

But before Lyle could say anything in response, Claire came behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I'll take it from here" As her brother ran off back into other parts of the house she turned to face Elle, looking more than a little surprised to see her there. "Sylar said you were dead." She sounded almost relieved, even though she still had her tough face on.

"Yeah, well, he's said a lot of things recently that have ended up being lies. I wouldn't trust him any farther than I would throw him," Elle snapped, her voice coming out a little more bitter than she had originally intended it to.

"You seemed pretty willing to follow him when you _shot_ me," Claire bit out, her face scrunching up in annoyance as she recalled that memory. After that flight she had though Elle and she had shared…_something_, she wasn't sure what, but then Elle had shot her. She had nearly died because of her. She wasn't sure what to think now.

"Yeah, well I've made a lot of mistakes since I left you and Peter at Pinehearst," She admitted, smiling hollowly, trying to act tougher than she felt in the moment. "But here I am, showing up at your house for help again. Pretty déjà vu, isn't it?"

"Dad's not home," Claire replied flatly.

"I'm here for you." Elle clarified.

The former cheerleader raised a brow at that. "Me?"

Elle nodded, bringing a hand up to cup the other girl's cheek. A little bold, but Elle had never been the shy type. "You're the only one who's ever helped me. I never should have left you. I'm…I'm so sorry"

Claire tensed up at the touch, but didn't pull away. "I could have taken much better care of you than he did," She whispered softly. She had been hurt when she saw Elle with Sylar, knowing what they had to have been to one another when Elle tried to shoot her father. She brought her own hand up to brush against the scar on Elle's forehead. "I never would have done something like that to you."

"I know" Elle whispered softly, her eyes closing now. "But he did more than just that to me. " She took a deep breath. "Claire, I'm _pregnant._"

Claire's eyes widened and with another pang in her heart, she pulled away from Elle, her face hardening again. "You came here to ask me to help you with his baby, are you insane?" Her voice was harsher than she had intended it to be, but she couldn't help it.

Elle laughed a little awkwardly at that, offering the other girl a quirky smile. "I've been told I was insane on more than one occasion, it could just possibly be true."

"This isn't a joke"

"No, it's not. But I don't have any place else to go. It's too late to get rid of it…and the last thing I want to do is mess the kid up like my father did me. Your father has some issues, but he loves you, so does your mother. I thought if anyone would be able to show me how to be a good parent, it was you."

Claire smiled in spite of herself, taking the other girl's hand and carefully tugging her inside. "My dad is going to kill me when he finds out I'm letting you stay with us."

Step Two: Trust

The rest of the Bennet household had been less than thrilled to have Elle stay with them, especially Noah. He thought keeping someone pregnant with Sylar's baby was just asking for trouble. But finally, he agreed, reluctantly, using the excuse that the child deserved a better chance than Elle herself had been given.

Sandra slowly warmed up to the girl, taking her under her wing. She couldn't help but feel bad for her, once she realized that Elle had grown up with basically no parental guidance. She taught her how to cook and clean, and how to take care of herself, and gave her books about being pregnant.

Lyle treated her much like he did Claire. He teased her and made fun of her, only to learn that unlike with Claire, there were consequences when you teased Elle. And they hurt. Especially when she was five months pregnant and you teased her about being fat until she was in tears.

After three months of staying with them, things with Claire had become a little easier. At first, they just did things like watch movies together and fall asleep on the couch cuddled up but soon it led to things like stolen kisses and shared showers. Elle had moved from crashing on the couch to sharing a bed nightly with the cheerleader, much to her father's disapproval and dismay. Claire was there for all the small moments, like when she first felt the baby kick.

Still, when Elle had asked her to come with her to find out the sex, Claire was surprised, to say the very least. "Are you sure you want me here with you?" She asked as they got out of the car, waving to Sandra as they did so.

"I'm sure," Elle grabbed her hand, giving it a little shock as she did so. "You've done so much for me and the baby, besides; you're going to be like mommy number two, so you deserve to know"

Claire stared at her in confusion. As nice as things had been, they had never exchanged words of love, or even really commitment, so to hear Elle say something so…serious was a little surprising, to say the very least. She tried to play it off with a nervous smile and a laugh. "Don't you think I'm a little young to be a mother, Elle? I've barely graduated high school."

The electric blonde's face fell at that, showing a rare moment of true vunerability. "I thought…I mean…" She laughed a little, pulling her hand away as her face hardened. "Sorry. I guess I thought we had more than we do. You don't have to go in with me. I'll go back to the couch tonight, because if this isn't something serious, I don't want to bother. He hurt me enough; I'm not going to let you do the same."

"I'm _nothing_ like him," Claire growled, grabbing Elle's hand once more, pulling the older girl close to her. "I was just _surprised_, okay. No offense, but with the way you act, I didn't take you for the commitment type."

"I'm a flirt, not a slut." Elle clarified. Never mind that she was pregnant with someone else's baby. That was…a mistake. The relationship, not the baby. "So what do you say Cheerleader?" She asked, tilting her head curiously. "You ready to find out the sex of the baby who's the product of a sociopath you sleep with and the man who brain raped you?"

Claire shuddered a little at the phrasing. Subtly had never been one of Elle's strong points. But it was something she was slowly growing more used to. She smirked, bringing the other in for a searing kiss before pulling away and nodding. "As ready as I'll ever be."

During the actual examination, Claire holds Elle hand the whole time, the two of them equally breathless with anticipation. And as she watches the joyous smile spread across Elle's lips as she finds out it's a boy, she can't help but smile as well.

Step 3: Delivery

Elle was glad the baby came out healthy because as soon as it was all over and done with, she decided she was never delivering another one. She had spent the whole time crying and clutching Claire's hand, charging all her electricity into the girl so they didn't have to put a Hatian on the doctors or nurses. And this went on for what seemed like forever.

And yet, as she sat in the hospital, holding the small baby boy in her arms, she couldn't help but feel like it had been worth it. She smiled broadly, holding out the infant carefully towards Claire. "Do you want to hold him?"

Claire nodded, carefully taking the baby and cradling him in her arms. He was so tiny and fragile. Even though she had no blood connection to the boy, there was an instinctual protectiveness she felt for him. She wasn't going to let anything harm him. She smiled down at the baby. "Hi there." She glanced over to Elle. "Do you have a name for him yet?" Of all the things they had discussed, somehow, names had never come up.

Elle smiled as she watched the two before nodding her head. "Noah Robert Bishop has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Claire's eyes widened at that. Elle was putting her father's name before her own. That was…more than a little surprising. "I think that sounds wonderful." She replied, unable to hide the shock in her voice.

Elle gave her a tired smile, leaning into hospital bed. "You've done so much for me Claire, more than I deserved…I just wanted to honor that somehow." Her smile shifted into an almost mischievous grin before she continued. "But it would have been rather cruel to name the boy Claire, so I thought naming him after your father was just as good."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know," Elle replied, holding her hands out as a sign she was ready to take young Noah back into her arms once more. "But I wanted to. We're a family now. You me and Noah."

Claire smiled, unable to remember the last time she felt so happy. Whether Elle knew it or not, she had helped her just as much. She may have still been unable to feel pain, but with Elle she had been able to finally move on and feel joy again, and that more than made up for what she had lost.

"That sounds perfect.


End file.
